TEHRAN- A review of Ayatollah Khamenei's speeches over the past few decades shows that he has repeatedly emphasized the necessity of drawing a line with the enemy.

For example, in the “Second Phase of the Revolution”, he emphasized:

“The Islamic Republic is not reactionary and it does not lack perception and understanding in face of new phenomena and situations; however, it strongly adheres to its principles and it is highly sensitive to its frontiers in relation to its rivals and enemies. It never imprecisely regards its principal lines and considers it important as why and how it would persist.”

Drawing a line between oneself and the enemy is a key and sensitive issue for individuals and various groups. The enemy uses various and sometimes very complex methods to achieve its goals. The complexity of these methods sometimes causes some individuals, despite having good intentions, to favor the enemy without even wanting to or knowing it. This is where at every stage of any move or action in various fields, one must think about its relationship with the enemy's plans and goals.

On Saturday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution again addressed the issue of drawing a line with the enemy in a meeting with workers and praised their intelligence in this regard. Despite protests for their rights, workers have not allowed these protests to become an excuse for Iran's enemies to exploit.

Paying attention to the enemy's plan in this regard shows the value of intelligence in the workers' community. The most important tool of the West, especially the United States, against Iran in recent years has been sanctions. Their goal was to put pressure on the people and thereby put them against the government. They wanted to increase the pressure on the people, especially the working class, to the point where they would take to the streets in rebellion and the country would become chaotic and insecure. This is while America always claims that the goal of sanctions is to put pressure on the Iranian government to change its behavior. But in reality, the people are the target.

For example, Richard Nephew, a Treasury Department official in the Obama administration who is also known as the "architect of Iran sanctions", said in an interview about whether the main target of U.S. sanctions is the people or governments of countries, he said, "It depends on the country being sanctioned and what interests are at stake. If you sanction the Qaddafi regime in Libya, you shouldn't even think about the population because Qaddafi didn't care about his population or their suffering. It's the same with Kim Jong-un and North Korea. Here, 'pain' should specifically target the ruling elites to change their behavior. The same goes for Russia. In my opinion, when it comes to using 'pain' for populations, it should be a government that has a popular base, and Iran falls into this category... In the case of sanctions, we should have focused on where the decision-makers would be convinced, and in the case of Iran, this was through making people dissatisfied with the situation."

Attention to the way America intervenes and infiltrates in different countries shows that workers have been one of the main targets. The working class in any country faces its own issues and problems. The Americans try to exploit these problems and resulting protests to advance their political and hegemonic goals in countries they consider as enemies. Of course, they also cover up this exploitation with beautiful slogans and human rights claims.

The noble working community in Iran has so far thwarted America's sinister plans. Continuing to resist against these conspiracies, in addition to the intelligence of the workers, requires more attention from officials to the demands of this noble and hardworking class and improving their welfare, as emphasized by Ayatollah Khamenei on Saturday.
 

Mohammad Sarfi is Editor-in-Chief Tehran Times